Work Text:
Leon had adjusted his sleep multiple times in his life. When he was a kid he felt like he didn’t sleep at all. He was constantly on the alert, ready to wake up at a moment's notice if he had to. That derived from not feeling safe in his group home. Everyone there had been the same.
It had gotten better when he was a teenager and moved into a crappy little apartment with Zell and Irvine. Sleep came in patches and short bursts. Sometimes the three of them slept in rotations. It worked so well at the time but thinking about it now after nearly a year of therapy with the boys, Leon knew it was just a different kind of exhausting.
Moving to Radiant Garden had been the first time he’d experienced sleeping like the dead. Those deep sleeps where he could miss his alarm. That kind of sleep was nice, but often had him feeling groggy for ages after waking up.
Meeting Cloud had been a change, but a good change. Sleeping next to someone on the regular again had been something to adjust to, but the snuggling had been something he grew to crave. There was a certain amount of courtesy involved in cosleeping but it had been shockingly easy overall.
Cloud slept more lightly than he did, but Leon had still adjusted his sleeping habits. If Cloud had a nightmare, then he needed to be present for his husband. It wasn’t a comfort to be sleeping so hard while Cloud was dealing with a night terror. He preferred to be useful.
All of that in mind, still didn’t prepare him for the heart stopping jolt that occurred every time one of his children snuck into his bedroom in the middle of the night and just stared at them until they woke up.
“Fucks sake..” Leon jerked, heart suddenly pounding in his chest when he realized a short, little person was standing right beside him. “Roxas…”
“Hi daddy.” Roxas said, keeping his voice a whisper.
Leon rolled over onto his back with a groan. “S’wrong? You okay?”
“Yeah, i’m okay.”
“Uh huh, then you just decided to scare me awake.” He glanced at the clock on the side table. “At three in the morning?”
Roxas shifted from one foot to the other. “Well i didn’t think i’d get this far. Papa usually wakes up when we open the door.”
Leon puffed out an amused noise and patted the empty spot beside him. Cloud was on a delivery for Cid. He didn’t do them often anymore, just when Cid was in a pinch and the delivery was close by. Cloud had left the previous morning and would likely be back that evening.
“Fair.” Leon yawned. “What do you need, baby?”
“Oh..” Roxas muttered like he’d actually forgotten for a second. “I think Xion’s sick.”
Leon was fully awake so fast his head hurt momentarily. He threw the blanket back and sat up. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“I think she was crying in the bathroom and she might have thrown up.” Roxas said, traces of worry in his voice. “I asked if she was okay but she said she wasn’t done.”
“Alright.” Leon rubbed his face and got up. “Thanks Roxy, i’ve got it from here. You can go back to bed.”
“Kay.” Roxas said, but he followed Leon from his bedroom and lingered in his own doorway to watch Leon knock on the bathroom door.
He could hear her sniffling and it took a lot to not just throw the door open to check on her but he was going great lengths to teach his kids boundaries and he wasn’t going to charge in for something that wasn’t yet an emergency. His hand was still on the doorknob…
“Sweetheart, you okay?”
There was a short silence before he heard a quiet, “Yeah.” But Leon had been a parent for over a decade and he knew that tearful tone.
“Are you sick? Need some help?”
“I’m okay.”
Xion had only been with them for a few months. She was a happy little girl for the most part but she was still finding her place. New things were always going to take a little getting used to and this was her first time sick in the middle of the night in the Strifehart household.
He didn’t even have a chance to respond before he heard the very telling noise of a little kid throwing up. It definitely had its own sound and he was used to it after so long. She was sick and panicking and Leon decided to put the boundaries talk on hold for the night as he opened the bathroom door. Something about children being so sick was just unfair.
His first step was to get her hair out of her face and fetch a damp washcloth. Leon worked on autopilot, flushing the toilet and helping her wipe her face clean. He gave her a little paper cup of water to rinse her mouth out while he went to find her a new pajama shirt that wasn’t stained and damp. Yes, maybe he was hovering too much, but she was only six. Anyone who wanted to fight him on his parenting style could come get their ass kicked. She was practically still a baby.
“Belly hurt, sweetheart?”
“Yeah.” Xion sniffed, standing almost awkwardly as she let Leon help clean her up. “I’m sorry…”
“Nah, this is what daddies are for. One day i’ll tell you the story of Sora projectile vomiting across the kitchen. It just happens sometimes. Everybody gets sick.”
Leon got her in clean pajamas and she washed her mouth out a second time. When she was done she looked up at the mess she’d made with huge eyes. He leaned down and cupped her face. “You don’t need to hide when you’re sick, okay? It’s my job to take care of you.”
Her expression was confused, but she nodded and sniffed back tears again. He tried to remember what he’d done when he was a kid in an orphanage in Balamb Garden but he couldn’t remember. That probably wasn’t a good sign but oh well.
In only a couple minutes he had Xion settled on the sofa with a blanket and a bowl that his youngest twins had dubbed the puke bowl. It wasn’t used for anything else and was that safety net in case Xion couldn’t make it back to the bathroom in time.
He’d snagged one of Roxas’ sports drinks for Xion to sip and put on her current favorite movie about cats not dancing who ironically, did dance, which had been heavily influenced by Prompto’s babysitting.
With her distracted he’d returned to clean the bathroom, and silently prayed that this was just a case of an upset stomach and not something that was going to spread through his household. It hadn’t happened in a few years now but he did not want to experience all seven kids sick at once.
Bathroom clean, and double checking that Roxas had in fact gone back to bed, Leon returned to Xion with medicine, socks, and a treat. The medicine was a chewable, and despite making a face, Leon was glad that she didn’t complain about it. Riku and Ventus couldn’t do chewables because of the texture. Something about eating chalk and the feeling it made against their teeth. He had alternates but he was just relieved she swallowed it without a fuss.
The socks he handed her were also put on without question. Leon couldn’t remember who told him to keep his kids' feet warm, especially when sick, it was just something they did now. Upset stomach, sore throat, cold. Put socks on. Was it ridiculous? Probably but he’d take any little advantage he could.
“Here.” Leon said, hanging her a popsicle once she was snuggled up again..
There was a brightness to her eyes at the treat. “I can have it? After bedtime?”
“Yep. Throwing up makes us thirsty.” Leon said, with a smile. “So for tonight, i don’t care how you get your liquids as long as you’re getting them.” The sports drink had electrolytes and the popsicle.. Well, it was tradition at this point and it would probably soothe her throat too.
She let him touch his forehead to hers and he was relieved to find she didn’t have a fever. It was a plus and hopefully a check off the list of this not being anything serious. Already she seemed to be distracted enough by the popsicle she’d half devoured and the movie in combination.
If they were lucky, this whole thing was just a one off and she was done throwing up for the night. Maybe something with dinner just didn’t agree with her. Either way, Leon was setting up for the rest of his night on the sofa. He stole all of the extra pillows off the chairs in the room and made Xion a comfy little couch spot before settling in beside her.
“You’re staying up too?” Xion asked, looking up at him, handing him her popsicle stick.
“Course i am.” Leon said, tossing the wooden stick onto the coffee table for now. “You’re my baby girl and you don’t feel well.”
Her lips flattened for a moment but she muttered her own agreement. Pillows were placed on his lap so she could lay against him.
“I didn’t know if i was supposed to wake you or not.” Xion finally said. “I’ve heard the others say that papa is the one that gets up with us at night.”
“Well, that happens a lot.” Leon said, wondering if he’d need to make it clear to all of his children that that wasn’t a concrete rule. “It’s because papa is a light sleeper and he usually wakes up first. It’s also because on a weekday I gotta leave the house earlier than he does so he likes to let me have more sleep. That doesn’t mean papa and i don’t trade off. When you don’t feel good or are up in the middle of the night, you’re allowed to wake up either one of us.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m very sure.” Leon smiled.
“Even though it is a weekday?”
Leon smoothed her hair back. “Yep. We’ll see how you feel in the morning and see if you need a day off school or if you’re good to go.”
She rolled a little to look up at him. “What about your work?”
“Well that might depend on you too. If you stay home and you’re only a little sick, we’ll see if Tifa can look after you while i go to work. If you’re a little too sick then i’ll cancel my classes and stay home with you.” Leon had quite a bit of practice juggling these things over the years.
“You can just cancel classes? Teachers can do that?” Her eyes were huge.
“Well, not yours.” Leon snickered. “When your teachers call out sick, you get a substitute, right? Daddy teaches college though. When i cancel classes i can still email my students reading material or something. No class, but they still get homework.”
“That sounds better. My teachers should do that too.” Xion muttered, snuggling deeper into her blanket.
“You say that, but i bet you have fun with your substitute teachers.” Leon said. He’d heard all about the fun and games his younger kids had on those days.
Xion just pouted but didn’t argue that point. She was still getting used to her classmates. At least she liked school. Roxas and Sora were over it already.
“Belly still hurting?”
“Yeah.” She muttered, rolling over with her face pressed against the pillows. Her attention turned back to the movie. “I don’t think it’s gonna come up again though.”
“Well that’s good news.” Leon said, snagging the blanket off the back of the sofa and covering himself with it. It wasn’t his first time sitting up most of the night and it likely wouldn’t be the last. Maybe he could call out of work.